Thursday, November 14, 2013

HIGH-ranking members of the Catholic Church acted in "scandalous"
fashion by ignoring claims of sexual abuse and attempting to protect an
accused priest and the church brand, a judge has said.

In a scathing attack on the church, County Court judge Felicity
Hampel today slammed it for not helping a young sexually abused altar
boy and not referring the matter to police.Depraved Catholic
priest Russell Robert Walker sexually abused two altar boys over a
four-year period in the 1970s - despite the Archbishop of Melbourne at
the time being warned about him.Walker had been confronted by the parents of one of the boys, only to reply: "How dare you accuse me of sleeping with your son."The Catholic Church never took action, the judge said."What happened next was scandalous," Judge Hampel said while sentencing Walker to five years' jail with a three-year minimum."And no less so because, as is now abundantly clear, this boy was
not the only victim of clerical abuse in the Melbourne archdiocese, nor
the only victim whose welfare was ignored whist the church took active
steps to protect the priest and itself."Although not a single
step was taken by the church to protect the victim, offer him
counselling or support, or report the complaint of sexual abuse by one
of its ordained priests of a child in its pastoral care to the police,
you were warned a complaint had been made and shortly thereafter
transferred to a nearby parish."After being confronted by the
accusatory parents, Walker - a parish priest ordained in 1975 -
continued his trail of sexual abuse."You challenged (the mother)
for having taken the matter to the archbishop and you continued to
sexually abuse the boy," Judge Hampel said.Walker, now 64, pleaded guilty to representative counts of indecent assault relating to multiple offences.He plied one of his victims with alcohol on one occasion.The
repeated sexual abuse happened in Walker's room in the presbytery, on a
secluded beach, at a church-organised camp and at a motel.Walker was arrested after one of his victims went to police in November 2011, 35 years after the shocking sexual abuse.In
describing Walker's crimes as "predatory", Judge Hampel said he had
easy access to his vulnerable young teen victims who trusted him and
believed in the sanctity of the church."This was a gross abuse of trust," Judge Hampel said.In his victim impact statement, one of the victims told the court: "I was a child who should have been protected."Today, Judge Hampel described both victims as being "profoundly damaged" by Walker's crimes.But she said they were "truly courageous men" for making their complaints and writing victim impact statements."Each of them has lost his faith," Judge Hampel told Walker.Had
Walker not pleaded guilty and been convicted by a jury, Judge Hampel
would have sentenced him to eight years' jail with a six-year minimum.

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